Legacy media outlets have framed violent unrest that began Friday in Los Angeles, California, over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids as “protests,” despite extensive vandalism, arson and attacks on police.
Riots commenced on Friday after ICE raids in Los Angeles County, prompting President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard to the city on Saturday. Despite the violent and destructive nature of the demonstrations, several legacy media outlets opted not to describe them as “riots.”
For instance, The Associated Press published a Sunday piece noting that protesters impeded access to a significant freeway and set fire to self-driving cars, but neglected to use the terms “riots” or “rioters” when describing the demonstrations.
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In fact, the story even compared the Los Angeles riots to previous riots in the city in what appeared to be an attempt to downplay the violence. “The protests did not reach the size of past demonstrations that brought the National Guard to Los Angeles, including the Watts and Rodney King riots, and the 2020 protests against police violence, in which [Democratic California Gov. Gavin] Newsom requested the assistance of federal troops,” the AP wrote.
Masked rioters vandalized property, lit fires and threw rocks and fireworks at law enforcement officers in neighborhoods such as Paramount. Some also spray-painted anti-ICE slogans like “F–K ICE” and “KILL ICE” on public property.
Trump announced a deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles following two days of violent clashes, although Newsom publicly objected. Federal agents conducting ICE operations arrested over 100 illegal immigrants, including people with gang and drug trafficking allegations, prompting a wave of unrest.
ABC News published a Sunday piece with a headline that even noted the protests were “violent,” but the outlet also chose not to use the term “rioters” except in quotes by ICE acting Director Todd Lyons.
The outlet reported that there were “clashes between protesters and police” and that “multiple people were seen looting a gas station store in Paramount.”
The Los Angeles Times also published a Sunday headline calling the riots “protests,” despite featuring an image of a fire that rioters ignited on Saturday in Paramount.
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Moreover, ABC7 Los Angeles anchor Marc Brown on Sunday appeared to downplay the riots as the outlet showed footage of a car burning downtown.
“It could turn very volatile if you move law enforcement in there the wrong way and turn what is just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn into a massive confrontation and altercation between officers and demonstrators,” Brown said.
CBS News also published a Monday piece that neglected to use the terms “riots” or “rioters,” while reporting on the anti-police violence that occurred on Sunday.
“[S]ome of those remaining threw objects at police from behind a makeshift barrier that spanned the width of a street and others hurled chunks of concrete, rocks, electric scooters and fireworks at California Highway Patrol officers and their vehicles parked on the closed southbound 101 Freeway,” the outlet wrote. “Officers ran under an overpass to take cover.”
Like the AP, CBS News also compared the anti-ICE riots to previous riots to give “some perspective on the protests,” posting a nearly identical paragraph. The outlet noted that the AP “contributed” to its article.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
